Pets

May 21, 2014

I don’t know about you, but I can’t WAIT for the 2014 edition of that book, Eat This, Not That! Every year they expand into new areas, like in 2013 they took a fresh look at onion rings. They’ve got all kinds of survival guides, versions for kids and even an iPhone App. Next time, though, I’d like to suggest that they really expand. In fact, they’ll need a new (albeit cumbersome) name: Put This In Your Mouth or Your Pet’s Mouth or Your Ear, Not That! Here are some new “Not That’s” that I’d like to suggest they feature.

If you’re an NFL player, don’t put that physician prescribed pill in your mouth! Some “former NFL players filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday alleging the league routinely and illegally provided them with prescription pills and various painkillers, putting their health at risk, in order to keep them on the field.” This not only messed up their physical bodies, it turned them into drug addicts. (This news, by the way, is on top of more bad news for football players. A new study shows that, “The brains of college football players are subtly different from the brains of other students, especially if the players have experienced a concussion in the past.”)

If you’ve got an itchy ear, don’t put drops manufactured by Cincinnati-based Masters Pharmaceuticals Inc. in it! Recently, U.S. Marshals “seized more than $11 million of unapproved drugs” distributed by Masters Pharmaceuticals including:

Pramoxine-HC Otic Drops, intended to treat infections of the external ear and control itching.

"None of these products have been proven safe or effective for their intended uses," the Food and Drug Administration said in a release. "The FDA recommends that consumers consult a health care professional about the continuing use of these drug products."

If you’re sick, don’t take the generic antibiotic cephalosporin made at India’s Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's Karkhadi plant! Actually this should never happen since there’s an FDA-imposed import ban on this drug. The ban is part of “a wave of restrictions, warnings and bans on Indian generic drug firms over the past one year” due to “serious manufacturing and quality control problems.”

If you’re a dog or a person even, don’t put jerky treats from China in your mouth! ReportsNBC, “Petco became the first national pet retail chain to remove all China-made dog and cat treats today when it announced that it would stop selling the products in its more than 1,300 locations by the end of the year. The move by one of the nation's top two pet retailers comes just days after the FDA announced that jerky treats, mostly imported from China, have now been linked with more than 1,000 dog deaths and nearly 5,000 illnesses in dogs, cats and, for the first time, even people."

All of these examples come from just this week’s news. They're gonna need a bigger book.

February 22, 2013

For awhile there, we couldn’tget enough of the Peanut
Corporate of America. The company
behind 2009’s deadly Salmonella outbreak even boggled our minds, and that’s
saying something! Here’s a taste, ‘er example, of what
was going on at their Georgia plant:

[A] former plant employee has come forward saying that he
once opened a container of peanuts and discovered several baby mice. He also said he witnessed coworkers put
“new” stickers on buckets of old peanut paste, and seeing bags of nuts with
holes in them, apparently caused by burrowing rats. Even worse, said the former
employee, “they would put tape on them or sew them up and send them out.”

On March 21, 2007, the owner of Virginia-based Peanut
Corp. of America seemed impatient. Informed that a customer's shipment might be
delayed because the results of a salmonella test were not yet available,
Stewart Parnell decided not to wait. "S---, just ship it," he wrote in an
e-mail, according to a newly released federal indictment. "I can't afford to
loose [sic] another customer."

Well finally, four
executives: Stewart and Michael Parnell, (former PCA president and vice
president); Samuel Lightsey, (plant operations manager); and Mary Wilkerson,
(plant quality assurance manager) were charged by a federal grand jury with 76
criminal counts including lying, fabricating lab results, mail fraud, wire fraud and the
introduction of adulterated and misbranded food into interstate commerce with
the intent to defraud or mislead.

Bill Marler, an attorney who represented many of the victims in the peanut
case, has specialized in food safety law for 20 years. He says this is the
first time he can remember such a scathing indictment on a food poisoning case … If I were an executive of a company, today I'd be
asking my lawyers, "How does this not happen to me?"

A Denver pet treat maker is recalling dozens of
different products - from chicken jerky and pig ears to buffalo hearts -
because they might be contaminated with salmonella. It's the third recall since
the fall by Kasel Associated Industries and covers all products manufactured at
the Colorado facility from April 20 through Sept. 19, 2012. The firm previously
declined to recall its treats, despite urging from the federal Food and Drug
Administration.

First of all, pig ears and buffalo hearts? Anyway, continuing down the road of
unpleasant truths about pet treats, we’ve also learned that Giant
Foods is recalling its Kaytee Parakeet Honey Stick due to possible Salmonella
in its parsley flake ingredients.

So basically what we’re saying here is that no creature on
earth is safe from Salmonella. Discuss.

Got a News Tip?

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the authors only. Any disputes should be addressed to the authors or commentators. The Pop Tort invites comment to further the debate on issues addressed, but we reserve the right to deny or remove any post or comment.